The weather for the second of the five Gwent League fixtures held at Brecon on Saturday 12th November 2016 was ideal for racing: no wind , dry and warm for the time of year. The numbers competing in each race appeared a little lower than the first fixture at Bridgend. No doubt rugby and football fixtures caused some clubs to be slightly under par. Likewise our Under-13 team was missing Aidan Oscroft and Cole Edmonds due to illness. Despite this the lads rose to the challenge which led to some exciting performances. Not to be out shone our up and coming under-11s produced some belated fireworks and the photo below made me smile as well.

Seven lads started the under-13’s race and first in was Jay Akbar (11) who pacing himself well ran tactically behind Beck Harding Hill (25) who started with great gusto but ran out of steam towards the end but he did go out with intent which shows commitment. Not far behind there was a great battle going on behind between Jacob Roe (35) who was having the race of his life and Joseph Hull (39) also rapidly improving and obtaining valuable points for the A team.

Next to arrive was all smiles Amos Kingston (50 ) who I am sure when he starts to look serious we will be in business.

Further down the field Henry Godfree (64) and Vinnie Williams (66) both started very positively and as it is still very early in the season there will be plenty of opportunities to improve.Overall this was a promising day and hopefully we will have maintained our position overall in the league.

In the under-11s race the famous five conducted themselves like seasoned athletes.Going off like a rocket Fred Cummins ( 21 ) is certainly starting to look the part and will hopefully be top 20 next time. Likewise Ishmael Bradley (31 ) came into his own and is rapidly improving. A little further back old timers Harry Constable (37) and Zachary Roe (44) were having a right ding dong and I am sure at the next race Zac will be out to seek revenge.

Full marks must go to Josh Lewis (63 ) who has only been training with the group for 2 weeks. He showed true grit and determination to carry on and finish after losing his shoe at the start of the race. This pretty much sums up the ethos of the group i.e. when the going gets tough the tough keep going.

Thank you to all the parents who helped with transport, provided cakes , assisted at the end with the results envelopes and to Steve Harding Hill who took control of the under-13s pre-race for me.